Robot Stories

Alright, this was definitely one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen. I thought some parts were more interesting than others, but I found that some parts were meaningful and I was able to compare them to other things that we have read during this course. So I am thinking I will just kind of break down my thoughts by the four different parts of the movie - 

1. Robot Child

I thought that this was a very interesting opener to the movie. I found myself getting incredibly frustrated with the potential mother in that. I thought she was so incredibly selfish and during this entire part I found myself getting more and more irritated with her. Even when she was looking for the baby when it got loose or whatever, she was so annoying to me. I mean it was a simulated baby it wasn’t like a monster and yet she was somewhat terrified of it. I felt like this scene did little for the movie and to be honest just kind of irritated me.

2. The Robot Fixer

This was another part that I found myself getting frustrated with the mother character. I understood that it was incredibly sad that her son was dying, but I couldn’t believe how often she was blaming her son for the accident. It was clear that it was an accident, but she kept calling him stupid and saying other mean things. But what I found most interesting about this part, aside from the fact that Harold was the son in it, was that the first real emotion that the mother exhibited was because she vacuumed up the one wing for that one specific action figure and now it only had one. This was the first time that she seemed at all upset with anything, even though her son was laying in a hospital bed like a vegetable. She seemed to feel a ton of guilt and remorse for losing this one little part of the toy. 

3. Machine Love:

With this part of the movie I was able to find the most connections between it and other literature we read. What stood out most to be in this part was the whole theme of love. I adored the fact that the one thing that got to the robot was a person of the opposite sex. This should be that love truly is universal, and is not necessarily a learn emotion, but it is built within us. I really never thought about it too much, but in watching the robots interact with each other in such an emotional connection, I really began thinking about the idea of love to write about for my blog portfolio essay because it has certainly played a huge part in our literature this semester.

4. The final part of the movie was a little odd to me. I felt like the idea of capturing your brain so that you can “live forever” is such a huge thing to grasp my mind around. And honestly I feel like if I was given the opportunity to do so, I doubt I would take it. I’m not saying I am looking forward to death in any way, but I’m sure when I turn like 95, my body AND mind will be exhausted. I really respect the old man for refusing to do so. And I definitely thought the end of the movie, although it was a little sad that he died, I thought it was a proper ending to his life. He died doing something that made him incredibly happy, that being working with clay.  

The State of Asian American Cinema – In Search of Community

As I began to read this article, it got me to thinking about how many movies I could think of that star Asian Americans. I was surprised how hard of a time I had, and the very small number of movies that I came up with. I asked my roommate the same question and together we came up a few – rush hour, the tuxedo and charlies angels (because of lucy liu). And the only reason we came up with rush hour and the tuxedo is because they both star Jackie Chan, one of the most famous Asian American actors out there.

This all kind of reminded me of Frank Chin, when he discussed his frustration that Asian men were not looked at in a necessarily sexual way in the media. I feel like, even though this isn’t completely in line with what Chin was arguing, but I felt like the whole idea that someone is unable to come up with many movies and/or actors that are mostly Asian American would really get on his nerves.

One part in this article that I found to be interesting was when the author discussed the idea of an identity crisis. I didn’t really agree with a lot of that, especially when it said “a crisis fostered by continuing American racism.” I felt like the author didn’t really give anything at all to back up that statement. However, I did agree when he went on to say that the cinema tends to identify this and market this… or at least to an extent. I feel like this isn’t necessarily just an Asian American identity crisis thing, I feel like any culture and any form of entertainment strives on some kind of crisis. Look at how many songs out there discuss being broken hearted and upset from a breakup. Same with movies, there are historical ones discussing a crisis such as Saving Private Ryan, or Pearl Harbor. Neither of these have to do with identity really, but they do involved a crisis. In fact, come to think of it, it is really hard to think of a movie that doesn’t center around some kind of crisis. Without a crisis, the movie would have no climax or resolution, it would just be boring and uneventful.

I  feel as though the author of this article could share some beliefs with Frank Chin, in that to me they were a little to aggressive without backing up statements. I feel like both authors make a broad statement that is rather judgmental, with no proof behind it making it difficult to take seriously.

My Year of Meats – Main Idea

Working with my group on wednesday in class really helped me finalize some thoughts I had about the central themes within this book. Of course there are many that could go into a huge discussion, but I really felt like gender roles was the most obvious and interesting, at least for me personally, to recognize. What was most interesting about the gender roles in this book was that we could see the perspectives from two different cultures; Japanese and American. Akiko was the representative from the Japanese culture and Jane was the representative from the American culture. These two women had pretty obvious differences, but I think that they had an obvious connection. Akiko seemed to really represent one end of the spectrum, in which women are definitely not treated how they should be. She is looked at not as a person, but as a thing that has the ability to cook, clean and bare children. She is not appreciated and is forced to do things and act as though being a wife is her job. When John required her to buy those particular condoms for them, he acted like it was a chore, and also that he should not be expected to do so. Also, the graphic and disturbing rape scene just shows how little he thought of her. She was clearly injured and hurt and he proceeded to rape her, this just shows the utter lack of appreciation and love this woman had.

On the total opposite end of the spectrum, we have Jane in America. She represents everything that Akiko could possibly desire – to be independent, appreciate, working, and does not need a man to function in her life. She works developing this TV show that inspires Akiko to want all of these things that she has. Of course Jane’s life isn’t necessarily easy and simple, but she has such a different life than Akiko has on the other side of the world.

I think that within both cultures we can see the different roles that gender has, but in seeing these two completely different cultures we can see something else. We can see a road of progression and growth occur within the pages of the novel. Akiko sees something, fights long and hard for it, and is able to achieve it. This was an incredibly thing to see, which is why I found gender to be such an interesting piece of this story.

My Year of Meats pt 2

Alright, I know that the main point of this book is the whole idea of Meats and American culture and everything, but I am finding it to be much easier to pick out the idea of gender in the novel. Things like the differences between the two, the different roles they have, and the difference form gender roles in our lives today.

Women are definitely portrayed in a less than flattering light throughout this book. This whole raping scene was really disgusting to read about and it just made women look so small and weak. They say thats the motive that some rapists have, to be powerful and feel like they are in control. Other scenes, like in the beginning of the book for example when the woman was forced to buy a specific kind of condom, some like super mega manly brand. And the act of purchasing these condoms was so ridiculous for a woman, she had to sneak in the alley with the vending machine to do so.

Another part that I found the different gender roles to be really obvious was a scene between John and Akiko. On page 99 after she tells him she does in fact want children, he says “If that is indeed true, why do you stop your menstruation by throwing up? There. You see, I know everything. I know your secret. Hah! The force of the single, malodorous blast of laughter propelled him backward toward the wall. He caught himself before he fell, and leaned casually against the china cabinet for support. Akiko shook her head again. ‘I… I can’t help it,’ she said weakly. ‘Well, well. That is not what the doctor said at all. He said you were perfectly capable of controlling it if you wanted to. So now, how can you explain that? You obviously don’t want to pregnant but you say you want a family. That makes you either a liar or a fool. Which is it? Which is it I’m married to?”

I feel like throughout that entire passage, John put Akiko down and made himself look high and mighty in nearly every possible way. He doesn’t even care that she has an illness that is affecting her to the point that she is losing her period, he just cares that this is getting in the way from him having a child and not even considering how negatively it is affecting his wife.

Like I said, I know that we are supposed to be focused on the whole idea of meat and everything, but that is such a random and odd theme. I’m finding it a lot easier to focus on gender roles as the main theme and I’m looking forward to see how these roles either change or remain the same throughout the rest of the book.

Post # 18 My Year of Meats

This is definitely a refreshing change of pace with the literature we’ve been reading. This book seems to be very light, modern and funny. Although some of the sexual innuendoes and references are a bit much, it’s a completely different piece that we’ve read in class.

As I was reading this novel, one thing seemed really obvious to me – the idea of Americanism… or what some people think America is about. When I think of America, I think of pretty cliche things – baseball, Washington DC, apple pie, dogs.. things like that. It seems that in the book, common things to think about are alcohol, porn, and Wal-Mart. Of course some of these things are pretty prevalent in our lifestyle, but I found it to be odd and a little depressing that these were the things that are apparently big parts of American life. Those aren’t incredibly pure and pleasant things to consider as aspects of American life.

Another particular thing that really stood out to be was the memo on page 12. This memo had a list of desirable things, and a list of non-desirable things for “My American Wife.” With the desirable list, every single aspect had the word attractive in it except for two – delicious meat recipe and exciting hobbies. And then the next, shorter list, had to deal with things that were unattractive physical things, for the most part. Obesity, squalor (a filthy condition) and physical imperfections could all be described as unattractive. This obsession with appearance/attractiveness is another fitting and yet depressing aspect of American life. It seems that many Americans do have a desire for attractive things – appearance, clothes, family, job.. and other things like that.

 

Thus far I am really enjoying the book, and I’m exciting to see what else will happen to the characters. 

Post #16 – The Native Speaker

The more I read in this book, the more interested I am in it. Although many things, like Henry’s job and his childhood and current family life, are a little odd, I find that these atypical situations make the book all the more interesting. One theme that I find keeps bringing itself up is racism, both subtle and blatant. And what is most interesting about these instances is that Henry is the one making the comments. The initial one was when he first kissed Lelia, and he asked her if she had ever kissed an asian. There were many other situations where Henry either assumes someone is making a racist remark, or he himself is. On page 73 Lelia was crying because of the situation that happened between her and Ahjuhma, Henry thought “With her eyes swollen like that and her high cheekbones, she looked almost Asian.”  This was rather stereotypical of him, and something that he really should not have been thinking about as his wife was crying hysterically.Other situations of racism presented themselves  but from other people’s mouths, and not Henry’s. On page 20 Hoagland, who liked to call Henry Harry for some reason, was having a conversation with Henry about a job. They had to figure out a name for Henry to use for a job. Hoagland says “Whatever you like this time, Bruce Lee for all I care.” While this wasn’t incredibly racist, I just found it a little odd that of all the names he could have picked, this was the name selected. Another situation that I found another character using racism was Janice on page 95. She was discussing what she had gone through with some exboyfriends, especially one that kind of just left her hanging and dropped her all together and she said “Is that a Korean thing?” I was really confused with this, maybe she was just angry and frustrated, but I really don’t see any connection between being Korean and being a person who can easily drop significant others.One more important thing I found in this book was the role of women, specifically mother type figures. Henry’s mother was disrespected in the sense of how she was recognized. On page 69 we see that “she was always and only ’spouse ‘ or ‘wife’ or ‘Mother’, he was ‘husband’ or ‘Father’ or ‘Henry’s Father.’” This just showed how she as a person was not recognized, but more like her roles in the household were recognized. This idea carried onto Ahjuhma, which we can clearly see when we learn that Henry doesn’t even know her name. While he refuses to admit that she raised him, she in a way did, in the sense that she was there for his growing up. Even if he didn’t like her, Henry should have at LEAST known this woman’s name. 

Post #15 – Initial Ideas on Takaki / Native Speaker

Although we have only read the first 18 pages of The Native Speaker thus far, I am already really enjoying it. I like that fact that it is not a memoir, not something of pure fact, and not a poem. While I can’t say I necessarily relate to Henry as a person, but I feel like I am getting to know his character and that he is a real person. He certainly has some secretive qualities thus far in the book, such as his job and what he does in his free time for enjoyment. Even so, I feel like he is a real character who is someone who has a really interesting story.Somethings that I found to be really interesting in the Native Speaker all prettymuch centered around the idea of race.  One example of this was at Nils’ party. He introduced Henry to Lelia, not because he thought that they would mesh well together, but because he wanted to make sure she was occupied while he was mingling with the other guests. Henry stated that Nils and Lelia were not lovers, but he could certainly tell that Nils desired her. To Nils, Henry posed as no threat to this, just as someone who could probably hold a good conversation with her. On page 9 it said: “Make a gesture, he must have thought, let my Asian friend in the suit have a pleasant moment with her.” I found it both interesting and inappropriate for the word Asian to be placed within this sentence, as if this made a difference in the situation.Another instance I found race to play a factor was on page thirteen when Henry and Lelia shared their first kiss. They talked for quite a while on a bench, and then Henry kissed her. After this it said: “I asked her if she had ever kissed an Asian before. She laughed and said she wasn’t thinking about it that way, but no.” This was very intriguing to me because it seemed as though he had the judgmental mindset, and she did not. He was worried that that was what she was thinking, but clearly was not the case. I really look forward to continuing reading The Native Speaker and learning more and more about Henry Park. 

End of Nisei Daughter

I’m not entirely sure why, but the more I read Sone’s memoir, the more I liked it. I really enjoyed reading the end of it, and I was really happy with how everything came together. I felt like the entire book ended up being this giant loop for Monica. Just looking at the first page, she discussed her amoebic bliss and happiness. Then she finds out she has Japanese blood in here and her world is completely shaken. And as all of the events of her life unpack in the memoir, she is able to come to a realization and an appreciate in the end. She brings up her metaphor that she had used earlier in the book, that she felt like she had two heads, as if she was some kind of monster. But after all of her experiences, she realizes that having two heads is better than one. I was really pleased to see her come to this, and take her original statement and flip it around into a really positive thing. Another thing I found to be very interesting was when her mother made an apology for being Japanese. I think that if she had said this to Monica as a child, Monica would have lashed out and agreed that it was indeed her fault. However, at the end of the book after she has all this knowledge, she says how proud she is to have that blood in her and that she doesn’t resent it anymore.

 When I first read this, I felt like she had really come to this wonderful end and that everything was perfect. But after someone made a comment in class, I have begun thinking more closely at it. It seems like it is a definitely possibility that this whole “realization” that she came to, isn’t as true and pure as she wants it to come across. Especially when she basically says that she understands why the camps were used, and apologized and took “responsibility” for her actions. This is absolutely ridiculous. There was no responsibility to be taken, it was simply that they had Japanese  blood, what should she be apologizing for? This is where I feel like some things that we discussed in class are true. She could be trying to make everyone else feel guilty for all of the harsh and terrible things that happened to them. Although this is a little odd, the more I think about it , the more I feel like this may be true. I really don’t think anyone can be big enough to apologize for who their ancestors are, I know I never could do that, it’s just too ridiculous.  I definitely think these are grounds enough for Monica to be pretending to be taking this responsibility. If she blatantly came out and said that it was just wrong for the Americans to have done that, and that it just wasn’t right, the book may not have been published. But if it looks like she apologized for her “actions” (or ancestory), it would be easier to publish. 

 

Nisei Daughter #2

I have to say that as this book goes on, it gets both more enjoyable and drier at the same time, which I know sounds odd. But I feel like Sone will go on for pages at a time about a certain event, place or person, which gets rather dull after a while. It is good to get a clear description in your mind of what she is discussing, but at time she just goes on and on about one thing that isnt really that important. But then something exciting will happen, like the announcement of the big trip, the fight with the kids on the street, or the death of Ken-Chan. This makes me go back and forth about my feelings on Sone. As soon as I begin to feel she is a little boring, she catches my attention with something new.

In these chapters, quite a bit happens in Sone’s young life. Since we read so much for this post, I really feel like this blog is going to consist of random thoughts and feelings, and I’m just hoping they will make sense. One thing that I found really interesting was on page 66. She was talking about how similarly her life “rolled by” compared to her friends. But when she says friends, she classifies them in a very interesting way, that being by hair color. She says “as it did for my yellow-haired, red-haired and brown-haired friends at grammar school.” I don’t know why this struck me, maybe it’s because being a redhead I’m typically on the minority side with hair color, but I just found it interesting that she classified her own friends in this way.   

 Another thing that I found to be interesting was discussing the act of politeness, on page 86.  Sone said that she “felt that a person could starve amidst this feast if he carried politeness too far.” Her family was eating dinner with Mrs. Matsui, and she was told that she had to make sure she was being polite the entire evening. While to her parents this probably seemed like a do-able task, at the end of the night Sone stated “I staggered out at last into the frosty night, feeling tight as a drum and emotionally shaken from being too polite for too long.” I found this a little odd, how much misery being polite caused her. This made me consider what kind of child she was. Not that she’s a bad one, but she seems to act out a little bit, as Sone proved later on in her story. A perfect example to further this opinion was the situation between Sone and her cousin Yoshiye on page 93. Sone disliked her cousin because she could get Yoshiye disapproved of her, and when asked by her mother, Yoshiye refused to let Sone borrow a kimono. Later on when they were going to bed Sone told her cousin that she was selfish, and she responded that Sone talked funny. After a few more words were exchanged, Sone slapped her cousin in the face. I couldn’t believe this when I read it. This was so rude and disrespectful of her. She made sure her readers knew she wasn’t sorry either.Another incident that shows her “pain in the butt” kind of streak was when she was out sightseeing with some of her family. She was told that the bridge was solely for the Emperor of Japan. Out of feeling “immediately challenged,” Sone went over and put her hands and knees on the bridge, as much as she could, before she got in trouble. I feel like she was rather annoying and obnoxious, a side of her I had yet to see in this book. And this streak only continues with time, when she got in the fight with the Japanese kids on the street. However, in this situation, I kind of respected what she did. She was defending the country she was born in, America, because the kids were making fun of it. I thought that even for a young child to feel enough pride and love for her country is a really great thing. 

Nisei Daughter #1

As someone in class said, “finally! Thisss feels like a memoir!” After Kingston’s piece I had some less than nice feelings for memoirs, but I really am enjoying it. There have been a few times where I kind of have to push myself to continue reading, as some parts of so heavily described and a little dry. Even so, I am really enjoying Monica Sone’s work thus far.I thought it was really interesting how Sone started and ended the first chapter, “A Shocking Fact of Life” on the same topic, but changed the description. To start, she really goes into detail about how happy and content she was with her life before she found out she had Japanese blood. Granted, she was around 5 years old and didnt have a very lengthy or exciting life thus far, but even for a 5 year old, to hear that she is of a different nationality than she always thought, it completely threw her through a loop.At the end of the first chapter Sone reiterates her point, but says it in a more… 5 year old way I suppose? She says it’s like having two hands, or being “freakish.” An adult might be able to look at the positives and say how this allows her to experience another culture, and a whole other way of life. But from a child’s stand point, being two different things, this makes them an outcast.Something that I found to be interesting, and as I start to think about the paper this jumped out, was on page 25.   Mr. Ohashi was describing the “model child.” He said that it all boils down to one main thing: rigor mortis. In other words, “no noise, no trouble, no back talk.” I  thought that this was so odd that this was what was looked at to be the model child? There might as well be no child at all if they are basically required to act invisible. I guess this just shows the difference in opinions between different cultures, and it is hard to understand other cultures that are so different from your own.